Out at sea - Nekton Maldives Marine Expedition

The marine expedition to find out the mysteries of the underwater territory of Maldives is underway with the first team of scientists heading to location last Wednesday. Participants of the research include scientists from the Maldives, UK, India and Sri Lanka.

The purpose of the "Knowledge Exchange Expedition" is to exchange information among the participants involved in the study with scientists visiting the Maldives on behalf of UK's research foundation Nekton, to provide scientific support to carry forth the mission.

The University of Galway’s Professor Louise Allcock, the Chief Scientist of the mission stated that her role in the mission is to oversee the expedition and provide technical assistance. With expertise in previous expeditions of similar research, her skills will prove essential.

A large percentage of the research undertaken will be at Odyssey, the ship that ha been brought down for the mission and currently docked in Vaavu Atoll. The team of 10 scientists will be stationed 10 days in the "Dhinasha" Safari and have embarked from Hulhumalé to join the team at Odyssey where they will get the Nekton support.

Working alongside Professor Louise will be Scotland University of Aberdeen’s PHD student Molly Rivers and Sri Lanka's first Marine Research Association Ocean Well’s Founder and Marine Biologist Asha de Vos.

Other notable expeditionists include Maldives Marine Research Institute's (MMRI) Senior Research Officer Mohamed Ahusan, Officer Hussein Moosa, Blue Resilient Reef’s Founder Shaha Hashim and Marine Biologist Aleef Naseem from Water Solutions.

The Indian Scientists who will partake in the expedition are Marine Scientists Dr. Sherine Sonia Cubelio, Dr. Sendhil Kumar Ramaiyan and Saravanane Narayanane. American Author Jeffrey Merlo also resided in the safari for three days.

From Vaavu Atoll to the southernmost

The Nekton-Maldives Mission’s voyage commenced last Wednesday from the capital Malé, travelling to the first research destination at Vaavu Atoll. The expeditionists together with the media were stationed at the fringe of Vaavu Atoll near the island of Fohtheyo, the easternmost point of Maldives.

Two submersibles are currently in the Maldives for the mission. Omega Seamaster 2 will carry two Maldivian scientists underwater for the first part of the expedition in Laamu Atoll. All the preparations for the submersible voyages will be carried out in Odyssey.

A week prior to the dive the submersible carried out other research with the use of robotic technology for the survey purpose.

In addition to Vaavu Atoll, the research will be conducted at Laamu, Huvadhoo, Fuvahmulah and Addu Atolls comprising the southernmost regions of the country.

A proportion of the survey was conducted from the safari, with samples taken from 250 meters deep off Fohtheyo reef. The safari put together a temporary laboratory space to investigate the findings. The findings were sent to Odyssey for the analysis of the mission’s principal scientist and Oxford University’s Biologist, Lucy Woodall. She was also involved in the Nekton-Seychelles mission of a similar kind in 2019.

In previous expeditions carried out by Nekton, the survey wasn’t done in shallow areas. According to Lucy, it proved to be a challenge to conduct the survey with cameras in changing currents.

Lucy emphasized that findings of surveys of this scale would be of major importance to fragile ecosystems like the Maldives.

The Nekton-Maldives marine mission expeditionists are set to paint a picture of the unknown marine life that would prove central for the health of the Maldives marine life. This would also be the first time Northern Indian ocean seamounts will be mapped and documented. The mission is to last 35 days, to survey the findings at 1000 meters underwater, which would assist policy makers of the Maldives to develop marine conservation plans.